Hawkeyes roll past Buckeyes
How you finish a half can go a long way towards a team earning a victory. That was the case on Thursday night for the Iowa Hawkeyes. They broke open a close game with 12-0 run to end the half and never looked back in a 92-75 win over Ohio State on Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
With the win, Iowa moves to 17-9 on the season and 9-6 in conference play. The Buckeyes continue their slide this season, dropping their 12th game in the last 13, to fall to 11-15 this season and just 3-12 in Big Ten play.
Leading the way for Iowa was Tony Perkins. The only shot that really didn’t fall for the junior guard was a hammer dunk attempt that caught too much rim. Otherwise he was outstanding from inside the lane, leading Iowa with 24 points.
Iowa started off strong in the game, forcing four early turnovers and building a solid 19-12 lead after a short jumper by Filip Rebraca. The veteran big man finished his night with 10 points. Then the Buckeyes got hot, particularly guard Sean McNeil, who hit back to back triples to pull Ohio State within one, 19-18.
Justice Sueing gave the Buckeyes their first lead, 22-21, with a pair of free throws. The two teams went back and forth for most of the rest of the first half. A Brice Sensabaugh three pointer put the Buckeyes up 36-35 with 2:56 left before the halftime break.
From there it was all Hawkeyes. Iowa hit on four straight triples. The first by Connor McCaffery, then Payton Sanfort, followed by Kris Murray, and then finally Tony Perkins hit a rainbow shot and Iowa was up 47-36 at the break and Ohio State was reeling.
The Hawkeyes kept their foot on the gas to start the second half. Leading the way was a strong defensive effort from Iowa and the pinpoint passing of guard Connor McCaffery. In addition to drawing a tough defensive assignment, the oldest son of the Iowa head coach put on a passing display for the ages. McCaffery found cutters, open players on the wing, and teammates in transition over and over again. He finished his night with a career high 13 assists and zero turnovers. McCaffery also scored 7 points and pulled down 6 rebounds in the victory.
In the second half, Iowa opened up the lead to 15 on a bucket by Rebraca and pushed it to 20 after a short jumper by Perkins and a pair of free throws by Ulis. From there, Iowa never looked back, building the lead to as much as 28 points.
Next up for the Hawkeyes is a trip to Evanston to face the red hot Northwestern Wildcats, who have knocked off Purdue and Indiana in back to back games. It will be a battle for second place in the Big Ten with Northwestern sitting at 10-5 and Iowa at 9-6. The game is scheduled for 5:30 pm and will air on the Big Ten Network.
